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Infantry Tank Mk IV Churchill |
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Even to provide a list of all the Churchillmarks and variants would fillmany pages, so this entry can provideonly a brief outline of what was one ofthe most important British tanks ofWorld War II. In production terms theChurchill came second to the Valentine,but in the scope of applicationsand variants it came second to none.The Churchill was born in a specificationknown as the A20 which wasissued in September 1939 and envisageda return to the trench fighting ofWorld War I. Hence the A20 tank was avirtual update of the old World War IBritish lozenge' tanks, but experienceswith the A20 prototype soonshowed that a lighter model would berequired. Subsequently VauxhallMotors took over a revised specificationknown as the A22 and designedthe Infantry Tank Mk IV, later namedthe Churchill.Vauxhall had to work from scratchand yet came up with a well armouredtank with large overall tracks that gavethe design an appearance not unlikethat of World War I tanks. Unfortunatelythe early Churchill marks were sorushed into production that about thefirst 1,000 examples had to be extensivelymodified before they couldeven be issued to the troops. But theywere produced at a period when invasionseemed imminent and even unreliabletanks were regarded as betterthan none. Later marks had these earlytroubles eliminated.The armament of the Churchill followedthe usual path from 2-pdr (ChurchillI-II), via 6-pdr (Churchill III-IV)eventually to a 75-mm (2,95-in) gun inthe Churchill IV (NA 75) and ChurchillVI-VII. There were also CS (close support)variants with 76.2-mm (3-in) andeventually 95-mm (actually 94-mm/3.7-in) howitzers in the Churchill V andChurchill VIII. The Churchill I also hada hull-mounted 76.2-mm (3-in) howitzer.The turrets also changed frombeing cast items to being riveted orcomposite structures, and such refinementsas track covers and engine cooling improvements were added successively.In all there were 11 Churchillmarks, the last three of them 'reworks'of earlier marks in order to updateearly models to Mk VII standardwith the 75-mm (2,95-in) gun.In action the heavy armour of theChurchill (16-102 mm/0,6-4 in in MksI-VI and 25-152 mm/1-6 in in Mks VIVIII)was a major asset despite the factthat the tank's first operational use wasin the 1942 Dieppe landings, whenmany of the Churchills used provedunable to even reach the beach, letalone cross it. But in Tunisia theyproved they could climb mountainsand provide excellent support forarmoured as well as infantry units,though they were often too slow to exploitlocal advantages.It was as a special-purpose tank thatthe Churchill excelled, Many of thesespecial variants became establishedas important vehicles in their ownright, and included in this numberwere the Churchill AVRE (ArmouredVehicle Royal Engineers), the ChurchillCrocodile flamethrower tank andthe various Churchill Bridgelayer andChurchill Ark vehicles. Then therewere the numerous Churchill minewarfarevariants from the ChurchillPlough variants to the Churchill Snakewith its Bangalore torpedoes. TheChurchill lent itself to all manner ofmodifications and was able to carry awide assortment of odd gadgets suchas wall demolition charges (ChurchillLight Carrot, Churchill Onion andChurchill Goat) mine-clearing wheels(Churchill AVRE/CIRD), carpet-layingdevices for use on boggy ground(Churchill AVRE Carpetlayer),armoured recovery vehicles (ChurchillARV), and so on.The Churchill may have lookedarchaic, but it gave excellent serviceand many were still around in the mid-1950s in various guises, the last ChurchillAVRE not being retired until 1965.SpecificationChurchill VIICrew: 5Weight: 40642 kg (89,600 lb)Powerplant: one Bedford twin-sixpetrol engine developing 261 kW(350 bhp)Dimensions: length 7.442 m (24 ft 5 in);width 2.438 m (8 ft); height 3.454 m( I l f t 4 i n )Performance: maximum speed 20km/h ( 12.5 mph); maximum crosscountryspeed about 12.8 km/h(8 mph); range 144.8 km (90miles);fording 1.016 m (3 ft 4 in); verticalobstacle 0.76 m (2 ft 6 in); trench 3.048 m (10 ft)
The Churchill was essentiallydesigned for a return to trenchwarfare. As such it was a classicinfantry tank, slow but heavilyarmoured. Introduced in 1943, itschassis was subsequently used for a host of specialist vehicles. 
Ch archills move up to theNormandy front line past a column ofUS M4 Shermans in early August1944. Note how the crews haveattached large sections of track to thefron t h ull and the turret side as additional armour. 
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